Kirito Takes Charge
by DigitalKites
Summary: Just after Kayaba Akihiko's speech, Kirito realizes that being powerful won't help clear the game when around fifty players are needed to defeat each boss. Instead, he decides to give the ten thousand players what they really need to succeed: organization and leadership.


I was about to reach out and drag Klein from the square so that we could leave the city for a better area, when something suddenly occurred to me. No matter how strong I became, no matter how high my level, there's a limit to what I can do alone. We would need hundreds of players working together to get to the end, and I knew this world. I knew how it worked, knew where things were, and how to succeed, and if I stayed... if I helped everyone rather than rushing off to help only myself and Klein... What would happen?

Every player was in the plaza right now. This was the only opportunity I'd get to get everybody working together.

"Klein," I called my first friend. "I need your help. We need to calm everybody down."

"What are you going to do?" Klein asked.

"I'm going to save as many people as I can." I said decisively.

Klein looked at me for a moment, and then nodded. "I'll grab my friends, they can help."

"Good. Just do whatever it takes to make everyone listen." I told him.

"Can I help?" I heard a deep voice ask as Klein ran off. I looked over to see a tall black man standing there.

"Yeah, I need to talk to everyone, get people organized or people are going to start panicking. I could use as much help as I can get."

"I'm Agil." He said, and without saying anything further, he started wading through the crowd, calming hysterical shouting and quieting the noisy crowd everywhere he went.

I turned to the center of the plaza. If there was anywhere that I should stand, it was on top of there. It was the only raised location in the plaza, and if I wanted everyone's attention they needed to be able to see me.

I wove through the crowd, using my experience with SAO and Nerve Gear and my agility to slip past shouting people, and made it to the center. There was a pillar here, rising 5 meters above the ground with a clock set near the top and a domed roof. I ran at it, jumping as high as I could, and climbed the rest of the way by grabbing on ridges set into the pillar. With a little difficulty I reached the top, and then stood on the flat surface just above the clock. Here I could see everyone, and everyone could see me.

I gulped in stage fright. I was not cut out for this... I'm a solo player for heavens sake. But someone needed to say it...

"Everyone, listen!" I shouted as loud as I could. Luckily most of the crowd were still standing there in shock and confusion, so I was easily heard, and the few pockets of noise were quickly quieted by Klein's group or Agil. Now I just needed to say something. I clenched my fists, and hoped they didn't notice how I was shaking. What should I say? What should I say... I glanced around the plaza once more, slowly, as if making sure everyone was listening. My mind was blank. So, I just started speaking.

"My name is Kirito!" I shouted. "If what Kayaba Akihiko said was true, then we're trapped here until we beat the game, and if we die, we die in real life!" I shouted into the crowd. That was probably not a good way to start... nothing I can do about it now.

"So, we need to work together! I am a beta tester of SAO. I know how to survive, where to go and what to do for the best chances of surviving and leveling up!" I glanced around as I said this, worried how people would take the idea of someone who had such a big advantage over them, but thankfully only a few seemed angry. Angrier at least, any way.

"I'm going to do my best to make sure that everybody makes it out of this Death Game alive! For now, we should all remain calm and find a place to sleep for the night. Tomorrow, anyone that wants to help me clear this game, meet me here, at 10am! There, I'll help everyone get used to the game, and answer any questions, and get everyone outfitted!" I glanced around again, and noticed many people looking unsure, but many others looking determined. Perhaps this could work out well after all. Suddenly I remembered something. We didn't only need fighters... maybe people would prefer to work as support?

"There's one last thing everyone should keep in mind! You can help everyone to escape without having to fight!" A lot of people looked up at that. "People who work as Tailors, as Merchants, as Blacksmiths, they're all very important for the success of the people fighting!"

I looked around once more, and found that a lot less people were panicking compared to before. I let out a shaky breath. "I hope to see many of you tomorrow, but I won't hold it against you if you don't come." How are you supposed to finish a speech? "Thank you for listening. If any of you want to talk to me now, I'll be waiting here for a while."

With that, people started leaving, some in tears, many confused and depressed, but many more looking thoughtful and determined. I sagged slightly as the pressure from 10000 people watching me and listening to me suddenly abated. That was nerve-wracking. More than nerve-wracking, I thought I was going to pass out a few times there...

I jumped down to find Agil and Klein's group waiting for me.

"Good job kid." Agil said as he patted my back heavily. "You pulled that off well."

"I was surprised it went well at all. My mind was blank." I told them.

"Heh, I knew you could do it." Klein said as he grinned from his group. His group didn't seem to share his confidence, but they at least smiled shakily.

"You ready to answer some questions?" Agil asked as he pointed behind him. I glanced over, and cringed as I saw a large group of over a hundred players waiting there, with various expressions. This was going to take a long time...

* * *

Three hours later, the crowd had finally dispersed.

The questions had ranged from angry demands to be let out of the game from people who assumed I was in league with Kayaba, to confused questions about how this is possible from some players who weren't as familiar with the hardware and software as I, to questions about the basics of the game. The number of people who just had no idea how to play was surprising.

Most heartbreaking of all had been the large group of kids ranging from ages 6 at the youngest to 12 or so at the oldest, who had come up to me as the only real authority figure that they had seen. It was uncomfortable being looked at by those eyes filled with such awe and confusion. I had had no idea what to do for them, after all I was only 14 myself, but luckily, a kind woman named Sasha had taken them to a church I told her about that should have plenty of free space for them, along with a few other players who had offered to help. I promised to go by early the next day to make sure everything was going fine at the church, but there wasn't much I could do for them all.

Finally though, there was only a few people left. Agil and Klein and his group had remained throughout the whole thing to keep everyone calm and help stop violent players, so they were still here.

"I was surprised when I saw you up there, Ki-bou." Said a slightly teasing voice from behind me. "The Ki-bou I knew would have ran off and gone solo." I turned to face the speaker. It was a cloaked figure, but with their hood down, showing off their short brown hair and catlike eyes and whisker marks.

"This is a bit of a different situation, though, the idea had crossed my mind." I told her. "But I can't just let everyone die. And... this way we'll progress faster. Beat the game more quickly."

"You can't fool me." She said with a smirk. "Who knew the soloist Kirito had such a hero complex?"

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to help people..." I muttered as I fidgeted uncomfortably at her scrutiny.

"Indeed, I think his act was quite noble." Spoke up a new voice. He was a fairly tall player, with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes. "My name is Diabel, and I was also in the beta. I'd like to help in any way that I can with what's happening tomorrow."

"Ah... right. Tomorrow..." I said, wondering what I was actually going to do tomorrow. How was I supposed to manage over a thousand players?

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you Ki-bou." Argo stated more than asked.

"...Not really. I was thinking of dividing all the players into groups based on what they want to do, but I can't explain everything to all of them."

"Don't worry, I'll help." Diabel reassured me. "And I'm sure your friends will help as well, right?" He said, referring to Agil, Klein and group.

"I can handle the people who are interested in a more supporting role." Agil spoke up. "In the beta I was a merchant, and I was planning to continue being a merchant here. I know how most classes work."

"And I was a guild leader in my last game. I can help with organizing players." Klein interjected.

"And Ki-bou, keep in mind that while there's 10000 players, there's also 1000 betas. That means every tenth person was a beta tester. They won't need help like the regular players." Argo said.

"And the other betas might even help out instead, right?" Klein asked.

"Maybe." I responded as I took a breath. "Okay, maybe this won't go too badly. I'm sending you all friend invites, let's meet up here half an hour early tomorrow." I told them, and then yawned massively. "But for now I need some sleep. It's been an exhausting day."

I glanced around as everyone nodded, and the few remaining people came forward offering their help as well, and I thought to myself, 'How did it come to this? I'm just a 14 year old teenager who likes to play games! But now everyone's looking towards me for direction. I just hope I don't screw this up.'

* * *

Kite Note: So! This is my first _published_ story. I've written longer ones (around 20k a couple times), but never published them because I'm not sure people will like them. I've also written an omake or two for someone else's work, but those don't count imo. Also, I'm not sure if this will be continued. I just wanted to write something to get something written and published. Wet my feet, if you will. I thought to myself: _'Kite! If you don't publish something soon, then you'll never end up publishing anything!'_ So I did.

Tell me what you thought, was it terrible? Was it amazing? Was everyone completely OOC? There's a lot of information that explains why characters are acting the way they are that you'll understand if you think about it, but if you're confused about something just ask, and I'll tell you. Except for Kirito. He's completely OOC, partially intentionally. Canon Kirito doesn't have much personality, so I decided to change it a little here. If you combined Kirito with Shirou from F/SN, you'll be pretty close, though KTC Kirito isn't going to be _that_ selfless.

I'll stop here, even though there's _sooo much_ I want to say! Review please? Even if it's just to say: _'I read it. It sucked.'_


End file.
